About the Office

History

The Philippine Consulate General was established immediately upon gaining Philippine Independence in 1946. The Consulate is guided by the country’s national development goals and objectives. The Department of Foreign Affair’s core programs anchored on the three pillars of Philippine foreign policy, namely:

Enhancement of national security;

Utilization of development diplomacy to attain economic security; and

Promotion and protection of the rights and welfare of the Filipino Overseas.

From the very basic consular service of passport renewal to Philippine nationals in Northern California, the service of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco has expanded over the years. It now includes services like the efficient implementation of the Overseas Absentee Voting Act and the Philippine Citizenship Reacquisition and Retention Act of 2003, otherwise known as the Dual Citizenship Law.

The first Consul General of San Francisco PCG was Hon. ROBERTO REGALA. It was on July 4, 1946 that the Philippines as an independent state started its formal diplomatic relations with the United States. Other official heads of San Francisco Philippine Consul General were:

Hon. JOSE IMPERIAL (no date available)

Hon. MARIANO ESPELETA (1950-1953)

Hon. BENIGNO PIDLAON (1953-1954)

Hon. NICANOR ROXAS (1954-1959)

Hon. SOFRONIO ABRERA (1960-1963)

Hon. JOSE MORENO (1963-1965)

Hon. RENATO URQUIOLA (1965-1968)

Hon. SAMSON SABALLONES (1968-1970)

Hon. CARLOS FAUSTINO (1970-1972)

Hon. TRINIDAD ALCONCEL (1972-1976)

Hon. ROMEO ARGUELLES (1976-1986)

Hon. VIRGILIO NANAGAS (1986-1989)

Hon. ROSALINDA TIRONA (1989-1990)

Hon. ALFREDO ALMENDRALA (1990-1995)

Hon. TERESITA MARZAN (1995-1998)

Hon. AMADO CORTEZ (1999-2001)

Hon. DELIA MENEZ ROSAL (2001-2004)

Hon. MARIA ROWENA MENDOZA SANCHEZ (2004-2007)

Hon. MARCIANO PAYNOR, JR. (2007-2014)

Hon. HENRY S. BENSURTO, JR. (2014-present)

In June 2014 HON. HENRY S. BENSURTO, JR. assumed his post as the new Consul General in San Francisco.

Consular Jurisdiction

According to the U.S. Census of 2010, the total estimated number of Filipinos residing in the United States is 2,555,314 representing 0.83 percent of the entire country’s population. Of this total, California alone accounts for an overwhelming majority of 1,195,580 Filipinos.

Below is the number of Filipinos in the states under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco

Summary of the growth rate of the total population and the number of Filipinos from 2000 to 2010 in states under the Philippine Consulate General in San FranciscoSource: US Census 2010(ranked from the largest to the smallest number of Filipinos in 2010)

Rank

Geography

TotalPopulation2000

Total Population2010

Total Population'sGrowth(2000-2010)

Growthrate

Number ofFilipinos2000

Number of Filipinos2010

Number ofFilipino'sGrowth(2000-2010)

Growthrate

1

Northern California

13,234,136

14,573,946

1,339,810

10%

493,414

649,646

156,232

31.7%

2

Washington

5,894,121

6,724,540

830,419

14%

91,765

137,083

45,318

49.4%

3

Oregon

3,421,399

3,831,074

409,675

12%

18,014

29,101

11,087

61.5%

4

Colorado

4,301,261

5,029,196

727,935

17%

14,716

26,242

11,526

78.3%

5

Alaska

626,932

710,231

83,299

13%

16,170

25,424

9,254

57.2%

6

Northern Nevada

585,842

653,356

67,514

12%

9,295

15,204

15,204

163.6%

7

Utah

2,233,169

2,763,885

530,716

24%

5,396

10,657

5,261

97.5%

8

Idaho

1,293,953

1,567,582

273,629

21%

3,196

6,211

3,015

94.3%

9

Montana

902,195

989,415

87,220

10%

1,647

2,829

1,182

71.8%

10

Wyoming

493,782

563,626

69,844

14%

894

1,657

763

85.3%

TOTAL

32,986,790

37,406,851

4,420,061

13%

654,507

904,054

249,547

38.1%

Consular Location and Service Hours

The Philippine Consulate General is located on the 6th Floor of the Philippine Center Building, 447 Sutter Street in San Francisco. It maintains facilities on the 5th floor of the same building where its attached agencies, the Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Philippine Center Management Board (PCMB) hold offices.

The Philippine Center Building is close to Union Square of San Francisco, near the corner of Sutter and Powell Streets. Housed in the same building are the offices of the Philippine Airlines and a number of travel agencies and law offices mostly owned and managed by Filipino nationals.

The Consulate maintains regular working hours from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. without noon breaks, Mondays through Fridays. The Consulate observes both national holidays of the Philippines and the U.S.

DIRECTIONS TO THE CONSULATE

By BART

Get off at Powell Station

Walk up 5 blocks towards Sutter Street

From Powell St, turn right on Sutter Street

From Stockton St, turn left on Sutter Street

By private transportation

From the South of San Francisco via Highway 280 (Peninsula)

Take the I-80 N via the ramp on the left towards Downtown/San Francisco

Merge into Hwy 101 N toward Civic Center/Bay Bridge

Keep right toward Bay Bridge/Oakland/7th St/Hwy101N

Exit 2 for 4th Street

Turn slight left onto Bryant St

Turn left at 3rd Street, 3rd Street becomes Kearny St.

Turn left at Sutter Street

OR

Take the I-80 N via the ramp on the left towards Downtown/San Francisco

Merge into Hwy 101 N toward Civic Center/Bay Bridge

Keep right toward Bay Bridge/Oakland/7th St/Hwy101N

Exit at 6th Street

At Market Street, slightly left to Taylor Street

Turn right at Post Street

Turn left at Grant Street

Turn left at Sutter Street

From South of San Francisco via Highway 101

Take 101 North toward San Francisco and Bay Bridge

Exit 280 North toward Port of San Francisco/280 North

Stay in the left lane and 280 becomes King Street

At 2nd light, turn left at 3rd Street and go 8 blocks to Market Street

Contact Information

Ten Philippine Missions throughout the US offer consular services. Each Mission covers a specific geographic region. To find out which Mission can assist you, what the hours of operation are and how to reach it please use our interactive Consulate Finder.